


Follow

by thesecretarchivist



Category: Dredd (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-30
Updated: 2016-06-30
Packaged: 2018-07-19 07:11:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7351075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesecretarchivist/pseuds/thesecretarchivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His cybernetic eyes whirred, fixing on her retreating back. Then he followed her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Follow

**Author's Note:**

> Cleanliness is next to godliness.

_There she was._

He looked on from the sidewalk, dazedly, as she stepped out of the ambulance car and walked away. His eyes kept focusing and unfocusing uncontrollably, reflecting his confusion. Why he had waited he was not sure, but as she walked away from him, he suddenly knew. His eyes whirred, fixing on her retreating back. And then he followed.

 

Mega-City One was _loud_ , the streets filled with cars and machinery and people, 800 million of them, producing noise 24/7. Anderson might not even have noticed his presence if he had been the least bit _clever_ about his pursuit. The way it was, though, she surprised _him_. All it took was a sharp turn, hand moving to her belt to draw her gun and make the arrest. _A mugger, a stalker, a perp_. She was still in mid-turn when she realized her gun was, in fact, not there.

 _Of course not_. _How could I forget?_

Then she recognized him. "What?", she said gruffly.

He froze, cybernetic eyes fixed just below hers. It was quite a feat to accomplish, since he was so much taller than her.

"You have been judged. Acquitted. I told you to go." She was echoing her words in the Peach Trees Building. How much time had passed since she had come out of Peach Trees, bleeding and shaken? Since she had turned in her badge, sparing Dredd the embarassment of taking it from her? She was not a judge anymore, not even a rookie. She was nothing, really. "Just leave", she said more kindly. "Go, and don't come back."

"Go where?", he asked. "Ma'am." The honorific came as an afterthought, oddly out of place. His head moved a fraction, eyes buzzing as they locked with hers. A sudden rush of feeling flooded her then, so intense she did not even have to cast out her awareness towards him to share his emotions.

Terror. Despair. Loneliness. Hope. Fear. Desire. _Hope_.

It was none of her business, and she told him so.

He stared at her, eyes red-rimmed, dust clinging to his transparent lashes. She turned and walked away.

 

The bike was parked where she had left it. She keyed it awake with her fingerprint, swung her leg over the seat in a practiced, familiar motion. She loved that bike, loved to feel it between her thighs, broad and powerful, the familiar strength of a trusted mount. She did not look around as she started the engine, but she knew the boy was still there. In the end, she was not entirely sure why she had not taken off instantly. In retrospect, it almost felt like an invitation.

 _Jesus Christ_.

She made a conscious effort to read him again.

Hope. Fear. _Hope_.

"Get on", she said quietly.

For a moment, she thought she had made a fool of herself. Then he slid behind her, bony and wraithlike, hardly touching her body. His weight was insubstantial on the massive bike. When she took off, he tipped backwards, but his arms eventually found her armoured waist and held on more firmly, long legs framing hers.

It was not unpleasant at all.

 

He pulled his sleeves over his hands as he followed her into the apartment. It was a childish gesture, belonging to someone much younger, and somehow it tore at her heart. "What's your name?", she asked. It was the first thing she said since they had arrived at her building.

His eyes whirred, focusing on her face. "I'm sorry, I don't - No, really, I mean - They called me Techie, I guess."

"Is that what you want me to call you?"

He licked his lips. "Techie, yeah. Call me Techie. Please."

She felt herself smile. "Listen, it's been a long day. I'll be in the shower for a while. Help yourself to anything, just don't wreck the place."

"No." He looked around, taking in the living room and the small open kitchen. Rubbed at his left eye absentmindedly. "Can I get a coke?"

"What? Oh. Check the fridge, I don't know what's there. Are you ok?"

He kept rubbing his eye. "I'm good. No problem. All good."

"Techie?"

The look on his face was suddenly _panicked_. She had no idea what had brought it about. Instinctively, she reached out to him and put her hand on his neck. He gasped, but let her pull his face down towards her. "Make yourself comfortable, ok? Do anything you like. Have a drink, whatever. I'll be right back."

"Yes, Ma'am."

She wanted to let it slide, longing for a bath, more painkillers and a moment of privacy. But then she said, "I'm not a judge anymore. No gun, no badge, no nothing. Just so you know."

"You're not a judge?"

"Not anymore, no." It hurt her to say it, and she turned away abruptly, unwilling to let him see the tears in her eyes.

 

When she came out of the bath, comfy in a sweatshirt and soft pants, he sat on the living room floor. There was a bottle of root beer next to him, a mars bar wrapper and an empty cereal bowl. He was fiddling with some - _appliance_ that had previously been linked to her table top computer.

"I fixed it", he said apologetically. "It was blinking. It's not supposed to do that."

"Ok." She hadn't noticed any problem, but then, she had never actually _looked_ at the thing. "Thanks."

"Sure." The tiniest smile appeared around his lips. His lips, she thought, were lovely.

"Did you grab some food? I can cook if you are still hungry." As a matter of fact, she would have preferred to just get a bowl of cereal herself and call it an early night. The wound in her shoulder was stitched and dressed, and the painkillers were working fine, but sleep would be most welcome. _The question was -_

He got up, wiping his hands on his pants. "I'm kind of filthy, you know."

"You want to take a bath?"

He looked at the floor. "Yes", he said. It sounded like a question.

"I'll get you a towel." Shit, _of course_ he needed a bath. It was inconsiderate of her to not have thought of it herself. To make it up to him, she brought out the fluffiest towel she could find, soft and _huge_. "There you go."

"Will you come in with me?"

"I just had my bath", she explained, stupidly.

His eyes whirred, focusing. "I know."

_Oh._

 

It was strangely pleasant to watch someone actually get _cleaner_ under her hands. She scrubbed at his neck and shoulders, back and chest, then under his arms, before she took each of his arms in turn to sponge them down. "Close your eyes", she said and poured shampoo into her hand. It smelled fruity, not the one she used herself but a promo sample. She massaged the fragrant lather into his dripping hair, rinsing and massaging again, until she had cleaned grease and grime from his long strands. The strange, undefined colour of his hair turned unexpectedly into a pretty ginger. She stroked him, thumb touching his forehead. "Let me wash your face", she said. "Can I?"

He hardly flinched when she cleaned him with a washcloth, moving carefully around his itching eyes. When she was done, he looked at her.

"Stand up", she said.

He did, and she was once again impressed by how tall he was. _Tall, and so very thin_.

His cock lay pink and soft against his thigh. She poured shower gel into her hand and rubbed his waist, his hips, his thighs, his buttocks. His breath hitched when she touched his balls, but then he relaxed and let her hands move around his sack, along his cock, fingers threading gently through the ginger hair on his belly. "I'm sorry", he said when his cock twitched under her hand.

"Don't be", she said quietly. "You're lovely. Dear god, you're the loveliest thing."

"No, I'm not." He took her hand, pressing her palm against his cock. She felt it move, _curve_ under her touch. He sighed, pushing against her, and let go.

"Sit down, Techie."

He did, and blushed _crimson_ when she touched his knees, rubbing shower gel down his legs and on his feet. They were small and slender like his hands. She balanced each foot on her palm, touching his toes. "You're lovely", she said again. "I'm glad you're here."

He would not let her towel him down when she was done.

 

They lay next to each other, both on their backs, bodies not touching. From the kitchen, the muted noise of the laundromat reminded her that Techie's stuff was in the washer, boxers included, leaving him naked beside her. _Sharing her blanket_. The fruity smell of his hair wafted over and made her think of sunshine and icecream. _Peaches_ , that was the smell. It made her cringe to think back to the Mega Block where she had found him. _Found him_ , no, she had not found him. If anything, he had found _her_.

"What happened?", he asked softly.

She knew what he meant, but she acted like he needed to clarify, just to hear him speak. His voice was changeable, ranging from a small, almost childish tone, to a much richer timbre that made him sound assertive and self-assured.

"I mean, why did you quit? You were a good judge, right?"

"Wrong."

He turned towards her in the dark, his cybernetic pupils blown wide. "So they kicked you out?" Realization dawned. "Because of me?"

"No – no! Not because of you. And they did not really kick me out, either. I quit. I handed in my badge."

"But that thing – that mind-reading you do –"

"It's called psi powers."

"Isn't that an amazing gift for a judge?"

She closed her eyes, self-pity swallowing her up. "Not good enough. Not judge material."

"I think you're excellent judge material. He'd have shot me, the other one. Had you not been there, he'd have killed me for sure."

There was nothing she could say to that. He was probably right.

"Is your name Anderson?"

Her eyes flew open. She did not remember telling him her name and the sudden question felt intrusive, even threatening. Instinctively, she cast her mind towards him. _Her badge, right in front of his eyes when she had first read him. Her name on it, blurred in his recollection._

She pulled back from his thoughts guiltily.

"Yes", she said, "Anderson." _Formerly_ Judge _Anderson_. _Now:_ _nothing_.

His breath was slow and calm in the darkness. Sweet peachy smell enveloped her.

She reconsidered.

"Cassandra", she said.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Gah, the Techie-virus got me good. Apologies if I messed up, no knowledge of the comics here.


End file.
